Samuel mccambridge



S. MOCAMBRIDGE.

GAR BRAKE.

No. 61,844. Patented Feb. 5, 18677.

t l \q` KB Winamax. O44

SAMUEL McCAMBRlDG-E, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters .Patent No. 61,844, dated February 5, 1867.

unseren cnn-BRAKE.

To ALL WHOM Ir MAY GoNcEnN:

' Be it known that I, SriUnL'McGanBnInox-z, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved 'Mode of Operating the lrulres of a Train of Cars; and "I do' herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the coustru'ctionan'd operation of .the Same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which make a part of this specification, in [which- Figure 1 is a planoi top view of two trucks, coupled together to represent two cars, with the improvement attached.

' Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section at the red liuc 1-2 of iig. 1.

Figure 3 represents a modication of the mode of weaving the chain E. Figure 4 is an'end view. Like letters in all the iigures indicate the same parts. The nature of my invention and .improvement consists in ,operating the brakes of a train of cars' by means of a chain connection with a series of sheaves, in such `a manner as to check the Vrear car of a train first, and

so ouin succession until the front cai-fis checked. Theusual mode is to check the front car first and the rear car last. This, as is we ll known, causes considerable bumping of the cars, which causes much jostling-- of the passengers, and adds muchY to-the wear and tear of themachinery-'besidesendangering loss of life of peraonswho may happen to he on the platforms at the time. But on my plan, as the rear -car is checked rst and the front one isst, and the intermediate cars in regular succession from the rear one, the' bumping is avoided. In consequence of this the train can be brought to a stop in much less time than by the old method, which is an additional `security in traveiling, and .lcssens liability of injury to persons a. short distance infront of the train.

,To enable others skilled in the art tb which my improvement appertains to make and use my invention, I vill proceed to describeits construction-and operation.

I'have' represented two trucks," A A, coupled together, to represent two cars of attain. Combined with y the wheels B are the usual check-blocks'C, the' connecting-bar a of one pair being connected'with the bar of the other .pair of the same truck by means of the longitudinal 'rod b and leverl), as seen -in figs. '1 and 2.' 'In the upper'end of each lever there is a shcave, c, and near the middle of' the truck a similar sheave, d, thelatte'r being supported 'by means of the hanger conned to the bolster f. The arrangement 'just described is car ried out uniformly with all the lcars of a train.- There is a chain, E, woven over all the sheaves throughout a whole train of cars in the manner,-` represented `in figs. 1 and 2, the chain taking a half turn`ovei each sheave, that is to say, the front end of the` chain is fastened to a counter-shaft which. is geared' to theehaft Clv of my machine for operating car-brakes,'pa te`nted November 28, 1865, which is placed beneaththe engine'ers platform, and the chain` passes over the trucks of the tender, and the sheave c, in the upper end of the lever Dj of the front Atruck of the train of cars, taking a half turn round said sheave, and, passing towards the fr ont of the truck to the shcave d, it takes a half turn over it and than passes backward over the',sheave c of -the secondA lever D, over which it takes a half turn, andruns forwardto the sheave d of the same truck, over vhich it' takes a half turn, and passes again towards the rear of the train to the sheave c of the lever D of the third truck, and takes a half turn over it, from which it passes forward to the sheavc et of the'same truck, and so on in succession the operation is continued of weaving the chain throughout thewhole `train of cars. Then the rear end of the chain is fastened to the last car ,behind the lever '1). There 'should he a number of sheaves, g, in hangers h, to prevent the chain swagging, it being necessary to have the chain loose on all the sheaves so asto pull first ou thc rear lever D, to accomplish my object of checking the rear ear rst. Instead of the chain being continuous freni end to end, as represented in gs. 1 and 2, there may be rod connections with pieces-of chains, as represented in g. 3, the pieces of chains being long enough to secure therweaving operation around the sheaves. In'iigs. 1 and 2 the lever sheaves c and'hanger sheaves d are' in line as to height, which makes it 4necessary to have them ont of line laterally, so as to prevent the direct and'return -portions ofthe chain strik! ing each other. The arrangement is modified in iig. 3, the'sheaves-being all in ,line laterally, but out of line as to their height, to secure the free action of the chain. In this figure, as 'zrbove stated, vthe connection between the machine, on the locomotive, for operating the brakes and the last car in thev train, is formed by means of the pices of chains E and therods F, which is the plan- I should usually adopt n;practice,;there being a hook con nection of the rods't the ends of the cars, as represented, or anyother convenient modeof readily making the connection when cars are added tothe train or breaking the same when'detached,therefroml The'operation is as follows: We will suppose oneV end o the chain Eto be connected with my machine foi operating the brakes, as above stated, and the other end to be fastened-to tbe'last car of theftra'irnfas ,described in rear of the lever D. Then, when the engineer' wishes to stop the train, he puts the ,machinelin motion by a lever which draws the chain E, .and 'the latterl being slack it r'unsover all the sheaves, and the slack'is @rs1 `taken upon the sbeave of the rear lever D, and thesheave d, in the hanger c, which causes. the upper' endoi the lever Atombehbgnne forward and the lower end backward, and` thus drawing the vbrake-liars a towards eacl other and-binding tbc check-blocks C against the Wheels lof' the truck.- This being accomplished, the slmlel action on' the chain E brakes, the next car, and so on in succession to .the froxtone. 'Eo-prevent the slipping of thg wheels I provide adjustable stop-rods G, the screw 'ends'of which pass respectively; through the bolster-sf, an are adjustable longitudinally by means of'the nuts z', as representedi-n gs. 1 and 2, to set the lfeals j so thai the upper ends of the levers D will bear against themwhen `the latter are borne forward far enough` to act with suicient force on the check-blocks C.

The above-described' attachment for operating the brakes may be used in connection l with hand levers -ox cranks, if desired, at the same time the engineer applies the machine for that purpose( The handsbrake rod is -atmched to the top of the lever D and the chain is wound up .in the usual way.'

It will readily be seen that my' attachment can be-applied 'to Acars without disturbing or altering the brakes already theroom' In case a-coupling breaks the separation of thecars'applies the'brakeswhcb checks the whole train .of cars. I y

Hav-ing thus fully described my improved mode of operating .the brakes of atrain of cars, whatvI claim therein as new, and desire to sec'nreo'by Letters Patent, is

I do not claim broadly connecting the brakes of a train of cars-by means of a 'continuous cbain'winding around sheaves, in the ends of levers which operate thejbrakes, as that is not new; but

I claim the combination of the chain E, (connected at each end as described,) with the. 'sheaves e, in the ends of the levers D, andv the xd sheaves d, arranged asidescrbed, the chaintaking a halti turn around each sheave throughout the whole train of cars substantially as described and for the purpose-specified.

In testimony that the 1above is my invention, I have hereunto set my' hand and axed my seal this twenty'- sevnth day of January, 1866. s. McAMBRIneE.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN Usrxcx, Jas. C. Pownns. 

